Confessions of a Corporate Shopaholic

Buying apartments in Hong Kong is almost like shopping for groceries in the territory.  There is no advance appointment required, no checking on your credit, needs or even your affordability.  Just last Saturday I accompanied a friend to visit a property agency as walk-in customers, and within minutes, we were led to inspect a few open houses in the area.

Aside from the apartments being inspected, I paid some close attention to the realtor who served us.  I am quite impressed with her handling skills and I could relate a bit of what characteristics she possesses that are actually universal across industries, as salesperson.

1. Listening Skills

Hong Kong people are notoriously impatient and none of us would spend the time to answer a long list of questions of why we want what we want.  In order not to offend us, she decided to take the time during the inspections to figure out what we were focusing on.  We were looking for apartments that are elderly friendly, easily accessible and managed by a respected management firm.  She knew from our conversations that we weren’t particularly picky on views and club facilities.  This saved us a lot of time.

2. No Nonsense

I despise realtors who make false conclusions or assumptions about the neighborhood, resale value or interior design.  I know this is a very subjective matter particularly of the latter, but smart realtors would shut up and take the time to listen and define what kind of customers we are.  My theory is that unless you are an absolute genius about a topic or the neighborhood you are showing me, do not make generalizing statements or smart ass comments.  Your credibility is barely hanging by a piece of thread.  Our realtor this time around is a no nonsense kind of person.  She provided us with the facts and shut up.  When we raised standard questions about flat sizes, layout and facilities, she could download like a computer.  I like this type of realtors.  She is someone I could count on.

3. Reading People

A good salesperson should always master how to read people and characters.   Without asking specific questions, good salespeople can gauge customers by their education level, lifestyle and etiquette by many obvious traits.  Of course it can’t be all that accurate all the time, but I can always use this simple test to filter out those who won’t get my business.  They could tell whether you will be a potential long-term customer with return businesses.  Similarly, they know whether you are wasting their time.  While treatment appears to be identical on the surface, there are a few subtle handling differences.  In addition, some bad realtors can’t seem to take clues.  They keep babbling on and on regardless of my reactions, on top of using a few scare tactics.  To me, this type of salesmanship skills is so behind the times.

4. Tough

Ok, I know it’s a rather broad term, but we all need to keep ourselves physically fit for the jobs we do.   Last Saturday, we walked up and down the hill a few times and it is harder than it seems, particularly in Hong Kong’s humidity.

5. Follow-through

Finally, we all know how frustrating that is when someone doesn’t follow through promises or every bit of details that you depend upon them.  I have my share of complaints with bank relationship managers and headhunters, for example. 

Well well, I think I just figured out what I will write later!